Why was REI.UN replaced by GRT.UN as a foundational stock?

Hey there,

At the time, there was a lot of uncertainty around retail REITs (of which RioCan was even though it was diversifying towards Residential as well) and the impacts of the pandemic. We saw many distribution cuts, and RioCan ended up being one of them that was cut despite the fact that management came out and said the distribution was safe. Prior to the pandemic, RioCan was one of the best REITs in the country and delivered consistent returns - it was also the largest REIT. In our opinion, we were best served to pivot and add Granite which as an industrial REIT had a far more stable outlook vs retail REITs.

The investment thesis on RioCan (and many retail/office REITs) drastically changed thanks to the pandemic. When that happens, we need to look at what our best options are moving forward. We felt that industrial REITs (Granite in particular) would provide more reliable returns as a foundational over RIoCan. Not that RioCan is a bad REIT - it is a very good one but it was impacted materially by the macro environment.

Mat